Appius Claudius Pulcher (died 211 BC) was a Roman general and politician of the 3rd century BC, active in the

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...

Family

He was the son of Publius Claudius Pulcher (consul 249 BC), and the father of

Appius Claudius Pulcher (consul 185 BC) Appius Claudius Pulcher was a Roman politician of the 2nd century BC. Life He was the son of Appius Claudius Pulcher (consul 212 BC) and the brother of Publius Claudius Pulcher (consul 184 BC). In 197 BC and the three following years, he served as ...

Publius Claudius Pulcher (consul 184 BC) Publius Claudius Pulcher was son of Appius Claudius Pulcher (consul 212 BC) and brother of Appius Claudius Pulcher (consul 185 BC). In 189 BC, he was curule aedile, and in 188 BC praetor. He was elected to the consulship through the devices of his b ...

, and Gaius Claudius Pulcher (consul 177 BC). His daughter, Claudia, married Pacuvius Calavius, the chief magistrate of Capua in 217 BC.

Career

In 217 BC, Claudius was an

aedile ''Aedile'' ( ; la, aedīlis , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to ...

. In the following year, he was a

military tribune A military tribune (Latin ''tribunus militum'', "tribune of the soldiers") was an officer of the Roman army who ranked below the legate and above the centurion. Young men of Equestrian rank often served as military tribune as a stepping stone ...

and fought at

Cannae Cannae (now Canne della Battaglia, ) is an ancient village of the Apulia region of south east Italy. It is a ''frazione'' (civil parish) of the '' comune'' (municipality) of Barletta. Cannae was formerly a bishopric, and is presently (2022) a L ...

. Together with Publius Cornelius Scipio, he was raised to the supreme command by the troops who had fled to Canusium. In 215 BC, he was created a

praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vari ...

, and conducted the survivors of the defeated army into

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, where his efforts to detach Hieronymus, the grandson of

Hiero II Hiero II ( el, Ἱέρων Β΄; c. 308 BC – 215 BC) was the Greek tyrant of Syracuse from 275 to 215 BC, and the illegitimate son of a Syracusan noble, Hierocles, who claimed descent from Gelon. He was a former general of Pyrrhus of Epirus an ...

, from his connection with the

Carthaginians The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...

, were unsuccessful. He remained in Sicily the following year as propraetor and

legatus A ''legatus'' (; anglicised as legate) was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman Army, equivalent to a modern high-ranking general officer. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the officer ...

Marcus Claudius Marcellus Marcus Claudius Marcellus (; 270 – 208 BC), five times elected as consul of the Roman Republic, was an important Roman military leader during the Gallic War of 225 BC and the Second Punic War. Marcellus gained the most prestigious award a Roma ...

, having charge of the fleet and the camp at Leontini. In 212 BC, he was elected

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

, and in conjunction with his colleague Quintus Fulvius Flaccus undertook the siege of

Capua Capua ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, situated north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. History Ancient era The name of Capua comes from the Etrus ...

. At the close of his year of office, in pursuance of a decree of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, he went to Rome and created two new consuls. His own command was prolonged another year. In the battle against

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Pu ...

's forces before Capua, he received a wound from whose effects he died shortly after the surrender of the city. He ineffectually opposed the infliction of the sanguinary vengeance that Fulvius took on the Capuans.Polybius, ix. 3.

In popular culture

Appius Claudius Pulcher was played by Dimitri Diatchenko in the 2006 film '' The Secret Under the Rose''.

Notes

References

''This entry incorporates

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired ...

text originally from:'' * William Smith (ed.), ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', 1870. {{DEFAULTSORT:Claudius Pulcher, Appius consul 542 AUC 211 BC deaths 3rd-century BC Roman consuls 3rd-century BC Roman praetors Curule aediles Appius consul 542 AUC Roman commanders of the Second Punic War Year of birth unknown